Legal and Illegal Abortions on the Rise

In South Africa, whilst the number of under 18s having abortions at state hospitals has more than doubled since 2001 and over 650 000 pre-born babies have been killed since 1997, it appears that so-called backstreet or illegal abortuaries are proliferating, especially in major cities such as Johannesburg and Pretoria. In Cape Town, a Cape Argus investigative report confirms how witchdoctors sell “mutis” (herbal concoctions) to women wanting to induce abortions.

The Pretoria Newsinvestigated how an illegal abortionist, who goes by the name of Dr Morina, advertises all over town and conducts abortions in dingy, make-shift clinics in the heart of Pretoria’s CBD. This unqualified “doctor” dispenses abortion pills for R700.

By law, no woman may have an abortion over 20 weeks, unless it is necessary to save the mother’s life. But for R500, backstreet abortionists in Johannesburg will do an abortion at any stage of a woman’s pregnancy. They openly advertise in local newspapers, offering “safe and pain-free” abortions.

The Director of the Gauteng Department of Health has called for a Health Department unit to investigate illegal abortion facilities.

The proliferation of backstreet abortuaries is ironic since the main reason touted by SA lawmakers and pro-abortion groups for legalising abortion was to prevent “unsafe” backstreet abortions. It appears that the legalisation of abortion has not reduced the amount of backstreet abortion clinics but rather has increased the demand for them.

No abortion is ever safe. It is never safe for the baby and can lead to many physical and psychological consequences for the mother.

It appears that abortion has become a normal “solution” to unplanned pregnancies. As the SA government and Love Life push their disastrous sex education programmes in state schools, which end up encouraging rather than restraining sexual immorality, teenage pregnancies are skyrocketing. Churches have also failed to teach on sexual purity and abstinence before marriage.

It appears that the sanctity of life has become so devalued that many do not give a second thought to having an abortion. Most Christians are either unaware of the extent of this innocent bloodshed or are unconcerned. The legalisation of this evil has normalised the murder of pre-born babies (disguised by the phrase “termination of pregnancy”) in the minds of many South Africans.

Christians in South Africa need to mobilise their congregations in the Fight for Life.

Meanwhile, a joint study published by the World Health Organization and the Alan Guttmacher Institute is coming under additional scrutiny for claiming that abortions are just as frequent in nations where they are prohibited as those that legalise them. Lifenews.com published a report by a statistician at Texas A&M University who says the study is full of gaping holes.

Dr. Keith Schumann, a Ph.D. statistician, reviewed the study and says the two groups use weak or non-existent data to support their conclusion that nations should legalise abortions.

Schumann said the conclusions were "troubling" based on the faulty data and said some of the stats in the study were simply made up by researchers. He also said researchers adjusted figures when they didn't have enough data and claimed that some nations underreported risks from illegal abortions.

For countries where abortions are illegal, the total number of abortions was estimated, then inflated, and then all of these were considered unsafe, he said.

The statistics from South Africa and proliferation of illegal abortuaries provide evidence that when abortion is legalised in a country, the amount of abortions taking place, both legal and illegal, rise dramatically.

“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves.” Proverbs 31:8

What YOU Can Do:

Encourage your pastor to preach on the sanctity of life on Sanctity Life Sunday –

3 February 2008. Visit Pro-life Resources on the Christian Action website for Prayers of Repentance, articles, sermons and Bible Studies.

Organise a Pro-life march, outreach or prayer meeting on 1 February – the National Day of Repentance – the anniversary of the legalisation of abortion 11 years ago.

Order the pro-life DVD God's Miracle of Life and offer to show it at your church or in school Life Skills/Sex Education classes (R35, including postage). Click here for more info.

Request quantities of our Pro-life leaflets, Abortion - the Facts, “Its My Body” and Milestones of Early Life (also available in Afrikaans and Xhosa) and place them in public areas in hospitals or clinics. We ask only that you pay for postage.

Order the book Make a Difference and donate them to a church or school library. Click here to find out more. Make a Difference has an excellent chapter with “sound byte” information on abortion and how we can save lives.

Request our Crisis Pregnancy poster, which can be placed on hospital, school, church and community notice boards. The posters are designed to reach women facing unplanned pregnancies and contains contact details of Africa Cares for Life - the umbrella body of Crisis Pregnancy Centres in South Africa. There are two designs. The one is simpler with only Africa Cares For Life details. The other has the Doctors for Life and Africa Christian Action contact details. Click here to see the poster designs.

Illegal abortion clinics can be reported to the police and the Department of Health.

Africa Christian Action now has even more pro-life resources available including an audio CD of a Sanctity Life Service and Sermon by Dr. Peter Hammond: “Do Christians Care?”; and a CD on “The Right to Life”(R20). The CDs include PowerPoints.